Iconic Ukrainian Diner Veselka Is Coming Soon in Brooklyn

The iconic Ukrainian Diner Veselka, open in the East Village since 1954, has new signage up at 646 Lorimer Street, near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, in Williamsburg. The family behind the restaurant, Justin and Jason Birchard, say the restaurant will open in May. The 4,000-square-foot building was constructed as a garage in 1918 and recently operated as a car wash. Veselka signed a 48-year lease on the property last year. The opening will mark the first time the Ukrainian restaurant has operated in Brooklyn; in addition to the original diner in the East Village, there is another location in Grand Central.

For a day, pizza costs a dollar again

Remember the dollar slice? On Thursday, April 18, dozens of New York pizza makers will come together and sell their slices — margherita, plain, and coal-oven — for a buck each. The event at St. Anthony’s Church (155 Sullivan Street, near Houston Street) is a fundraiser started by Scott Wiener of Scott’s Pizza Tours for local group Slice Out Hunger. Participants can purchase $1 tickets at the event and exchange them for a slice, a drink, or a dessert. This year’s lineup includes Di Fara Pizza, John’s of Bleecker Street, Don Antonio, and others.

Hand Hospitality is opening a new restaurant

Odre, a new concept from the prolific restaurant group, Hand Hospitality — Her Name is Han, Ariari, Seoul Salon, Cho Dang Gol — has signed on a new spot in the East Village. It’s heading for 199 Second Avenue, near East 13th Street, this summer, a spokesperson confirms. Odre will serve an under $50 per person, four-course prix-fixe restaurant; it’s the first Hand spot led by chef Changki Kang, an alum of the Michelin-starred Seoul restaurant, Onjium (which now has a Manhattan outpost). Think: seasonally changing dishes like summer squash shrimp jeon and oysters with pear and sea cucumber. — Emma Orlow, reporter

An Ops alum has a new wine shop

Haley Burke, one of three owners of Colors, a new wine shop near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, says it's a homecoming, having grown up nearby. Burke, who is overseeing managing and buying for Colors, has worked at Bushwick pizzeria, Ops, known for its wine list, and Ridgewood wine shop, Foret, among other spots. It opened in March, at 138 Flushing Avenue, near Vanderbilt Avenue, replacing Navy Wine Merchants, which first opened in 2017. — Emma Orlow, reporter